We’ve been holding out for some kind of partnership that would bring music to Facebook for a while now. Well, no dice on that, kids. However, a recently launched Chrome plugin called Music+ is sure to tide you over until that glorious day comes.

Music+ is a plugin that was developed during the Echo Nest Social Music App Challenge. It uses the music intelligence service’s API (as well as Facebook’s API) to make it easy to find and listen to music while surfing the web.

Simply install the plugin in Chrome, and start discovering music. At its simplest, you can pull up a toolbar in which you can search for playable music to listen to while browsing (courtesy of Rdio and MP3s on blogs). Those songs can be shared with friends on Facebook via message, or they can be posted as a playable stream on your wall.

Start surfing, and the app gets interesting. If you go to a blog and highlight a band name and right-click, you can listen to songs by that artist instantly. However, the app really shines when used with Facebook. You’ll have to disable secure browsing in order for it to work (which is a pain), but once you do, every artist on the site will have a “Play” button next to their name, allowing you to listen to tracks by that artist right within Facebook. You can then surf around the site as usual, without having to stay on the page to continue listening (as seen with Facebook Page apps like Bandpage).

The app also adds a column to the left of any band Page containing similar artists, an awesome addition when it comes to music discovery. It also allows you to add artists to your queue for later listening.

All in all, this is an awesome app when it comes to facilitating music discovery. No more toggling over to YouTube or a music subscription service to check out a band while reading. It’s all woven into the Facebook browsing experience.

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We’ve been holding out for some kind of partnership that would bring music to Facebook for a while now. Well, no dice on that, kids. However, a recently launched Chrome plugin called Music+ is sure to tide you over until that glorious day comes.

Music+ is a plugin that was developed during the Echo Nest Social Music App Challenge. It uses the music intelligence service’s API (as well as Facebook’s API) to make it easy to find and listen to music while surfing the web.

Simply install the plugin in Chrome, and start discovering music. At its simplest, you can pull up a toolbar in which you can search for playable music to listen to while browsing (courtesy of Rdio and MP3s on blogs). Those songs can be shared with friends on Facebook via message, or they can be posted as a playable stream on your wall.

Start surfing, and the app gets interesting. If you go to a blog and highlight a band name and right-click, you can listen to songs by that artist instantly. However, the app really shines when used with Facebook. You’ll have to disable secure browsing in order for it to work (which is a pain), but once you do, every artist on the site will have a “Play” button next to their name, allowing you to listen to tracks by that artist right within Facebook. You can then surf around the site as usual, without having to stay on the page to continue listening (as seen with Facebook Page apps like Bandpage).

The app also adds a column to the left of any band Page containing similar artists, an awesome addition when it comes to music discovery. It also allows you to add artists to your queue for later listening.

All in all, this is an awesome app when it comes to facilitating music discovery. No more toggling over to YouTube or a music subscription service to check out a band while reading. It’s all woven into the Facebook browsing experience.

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A few weeks after finally entering the U.S. market — and reportedly amassing 70,000 paid users — music subscription service Spotify is being sued for patent infringement by wireless multimedia platform creator, PacketVideo.

According to TechDirt, the patent in question is for a “Device for the distribution of music information in digital form.” The patent was filed in the ’90s, and was purchased by PacketVideo a few years ago. Now, the company is claiming that Spotify is infringing on the patent, causing “irreparable harm and damage” to its business, according to the suit.

We reached out to Spotify for a response. Here’s what its representatives had to say: “In just under three years, Spotify has become more popular than any other music service of its kind. This success is, in large part, due to our own highly innovative, proprietary hybrid technology that incorporates peer-to-peer technology. The result is what we humbly believe to be a better music experience – lightning fast, dead simple and really social.

“PacketVideo is claiming that by distributing music over the Internet, Spotify (and by inference any other similar digital music service) has infringed one of the patents that has previously been acquired by PacketVideo. Spotify is strongly contesting PacketVideo’s claim.”

We’ll keep you updated should the suit progress further.

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After years of derision between Spotify and U.S. record labels, UMG is out Wednesday with a playlist service called Digster that taps into Spotify’s free tier.

Billboard reports that the service is set to go live today. It’s a U.S. version of a pre-existing product in Sweden and Norway developed by Universal Music Sweden. Digster basically adds some authority to the music subscription service’s offerings, tapping music editors (UMG employees and artists) to create curated playlists from songs both on-label and off.

Playlists can be listened to via Digster or Spotify (all tiers) and users can subscribe to them just as they can subscribe to friends’ playlists. Playlist types include: “Live” playlists (regularly updated), “Digster By” (created by artists, not updated often) and “Standard” (standalone lists that are never updated). Digster also offers users recommended playlists to suit their musical tastes.

What do you think of Digster and UMG’s ardent adoption of Spotify?

Image courtesy of Flickr, Carnoodles

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Spotify may have launched in the U.S. at long last, but that doesn’t mean that all other offerings laid down and died at the service’s feet. Case in point: Rdio‘s catalog has just hit the 10 million song mark.

The social music service was previously reporting that it had “more than 9 million songs,” and now that number is up to 10 million. For comparison’s sake: Spotify has 15 million songs, MOG has 11 million, Rhapsody 12 has million and Slacker Radio boasts more than 8 million (check out our music subscription comparison chart for more info).

Yes, the change from 9 million to 10 million songs may not seem like that much of a leap, but it speaks to the growing digital music space, now replete with contenders and plucky upstarts like still-in-beta Turntable.fm, which recently (and notably) reached licensing agreements with BMI and ASCAP.

Image courtesy of Flickr, all that improbable blue

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Music subscription service Rdio will soon be releasing an iPad app, making it one of the few services of its kind to release such an offering (at least officially).

It’s not available yet — Apple has yet to approve it — but Rdio is saying that it will soon add an iPad app to its roster of platforms, including web, Mac and Windows desktop clients, mobile phone applications for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7, in-home devices like Sonos and Roku, and in the car on Pioneer AppRadio. News of the app’s existence leaked Tuesday, but Rdio does not know when the app will officially be available for download.

We will have a hands-on locked and loaded as soon as you can get your paws on Rdio for iPad, but we can tell you now that it will be a similar experience to Rdio as it appears on other platforms, complete with social aspects (the ability to follow friends and influencers), offline caching, user profiles (featuring user collections and activity), charts, playlisting, new releases, recommendations and artist radio stations. Users will have access to 9 million songs on the iPad, provided they are Rdio Unlimited subscribers (for $9.99 per month).

Among the many on-demand contenders, Rdio is one of the few to offer an iPad app (Pandora, which is not on-demand, was an early iPad adopter). Slacker Radio has an app designed for iPhone and iPad, and services like Spotify and MOG’s apps work on the iPad. But Rdio’s product was built especially for tablet use.

Again, this service is not yet available in the iTunes App store.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Carnoodles

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Update: Looks like we’re out of invites, folks!

The moment many music lovers had been waiting for came this morning when Spotify finally made it to U.S. shores. Chevrolet announced Thursday that it will be one of the music subscription service’s first advertisers, and the first automobile company to support Spotify at launch.

To herald the coming of Spotify, Chevy is offering 150,000 invites to Spotify’s free service through its Facebook Page in the Chevrolet Sonic tab. It has also given Mashable 500 invites to the free version of Spotify to dole out to our readers — click here to nab one.

Over the course of the day, we’ll be seeing other launch partners emerge but the Chevy partnership is certainly intriguing. Perhaps we’ll see Spotify coming bundled in Chevy cars in the coming months. In-car service is one of the most important frontiers in the music subscription service game.

Other launch partners include Coca-Cola and Sprite, Motorola, Reebok, Sonos and The Daily. They will be launching campaigns in partnership with Spotify in the coming weeks and months.

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Word on the digital street is that much-lauded European music subscription service Spotify will land on U.S. shores this week.

Our sources in the music industry told us Spotify won’t open the floodgates all at once: The service will execute a slow launch, giving pre-existing members invites to distribute.

Last week, our collective American heart skipped a beat when the company posted a landing page declaring that “the award-winning music service that’s taken Europe by storm will soon be landing on US shores.”

Others have speculated that Spotify will land in the U.S. this week.

The U.S. launch of Spotify has appeared imminent for months, with the company closing a $100 million round of funding and reportedly securing licensing deals with UMG, EMI and Sony.

Our sources say Spotify has not yet confirmed a deal with Warner Music Group, but they say that the service is meeting with the label staff to talk about marketing, so the deal seems nearly sealed. Last week, documents detailing Spotify’s launch plans leaked, revealing that the service plans to rely on Facebook to garner buzz for the brand.

What do you think? Will we be getting our hands on Spotify this week? If so, will you make the switch even if you’re already patronizing a music subscription service?

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Spotify, the European music subscription service, is exclusively partnering with Virgin Media, making Virgin the only digital entertainment provider in the UK to feature Spotify across multiple services.

This partnership will make Spotify‘s 13 million songs available to Virgin Media customers online, via mobile or on their TVs.

New and existing Virgin Media customers will be able to choose one of Spotify’s tiered pricing options: the unlimited service (£4.99 per month) or Spotify Premium (£9.99) — special offers will be available upon signup. Existing Spotify users will be able to access their accounts via Virgin Media, but anyone using Spotify’s free service will reportedly have to shell out some cash to access Spotify via connected TVs.

Photo courtesy of Flickr, Andreas Blixt

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Music subscription service Grooveshark has really started to rally for indie artists of late. First, it launched a channel for emerging artists with Indaba, and now it’s partnering with label services company Rocket Science to help up-and-coming artists get ahead.

The idea is to help unsigned musicians build out their careers to an alternative fashion — outside the confines of the traditional label system. Grooveshark and Rocket Science are kicking off the program with Austin band, Quiet Company, who came to the music subscription service’s attention due to their growing popularity on the platform.

The band is debuting a new single and video this week (see above), and announcing a new album, We Are All Where We Belong, so the time is right for this kind of marketing push. Rocket Science will be helping the band with career intricacies like touring, licensing and promotion, but the band will retain all rights to its music and neither Grooveshark nor Rocket Science will have a monetary stake in the music.

“We had a label for our first record, and this last time that we talked to a label, we realized that we’re never going to fit on any label,” says the band’s lead signer, Taylor Muse. “We just don’t have the lifestyle for it. But this is perfect for us. It gives us the things that the label would give us, without all the needless stuff that comes with a label. I don’t see the need for one.”

“From Rocket Science’s perspective, we feel that every artist should be utilizing a unique strategy to identify their audience and monetize their art,” says Ben Watson, Rocket Science’s marketing coordinator. “We want to prove that these new tools and platforms are enabling artists to create their own path to success without relying on the industry’s usual strategy.”

As of yet, Grooveshark and Rocket Science don’t know when or how the next band will be chosen, but they plan on continuing the project after Quiet Company.

Photo courtesy of Flickr, João Pedro, uai!

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For months, we’ve been hearing rumors that Spotify had raised $100 million in funding from DST, Kleiner Perkins and Accel. Now it seems that round has finally closed, giving the music subscription service a $1 billion valuation.

All Things Digital is reporting that with this influx of cash, the service can likely launch in the U.S. this summer. Spotify already reportedly signed licensing deals with UMG, EMI and Sony, and is in talks with Warner Music Group.

“We’re signing the remaining deals as I speak,” Jonathan Forster, general manager of Europe and global vice president of ad sales at Spotify, said at a conference in London this week. Still, Forster told Silicon Valley Watcher that the service won’t launch stateside before July 5.

So why has it been taking so long to bring Spotify to the States? The U.S. record companies were reportedly not overly enthusiastic about Spotify’s “freemium” business model, where the company gives away ad-supported music in hopes of signing paying subscribers to its ad-free version. That premium service lets users choose and replay their music.

Still, Spotify cut back on free music in May, requiring users to pay for deeper access, so the company is clearly open to compromise.

It seems rumors have been swirling about Spotify nonstop lately, with folks speculating that it would partner with Google for a cloud-based music service (it didn’t) and that Facebook is interested in teaming up (it’s probably not).

This recent report can’t be confirmed with Spotify because the company never comments on such deals, but it doesn’t seem out of the question. All four major labels recently signed licensing deals with Apple for its iTunes to the Cloud and iTunes Match services, which seems to indicate that the majors are opening up to the ways of the digital age (iTunes in the Cloud is free, and iTunes Match costs around $25 per year). Still, Apple has a lot more clout than Spotify.

It’s been slow going when it comes to bringing Spotify to the U.S., and with plenty of longstanding competitors already in the ring, we’ll just have to wait and see what kind of impact it makes if/when it arrives.

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Grooveshark fans, we’ve got some bad news: The music subscription service has been removed from the Android Market due to record label complaints.

CNET is reporting Wednesday that the popular music app is absent from the Android Market, with Google telling the publication: “We remove apps from Android Market that violate our terms of service.” We’ve reached out to Grooveshark for comment. As of now, there’s no word as to whether the app will be remotely removed from users’ smartphones.

Back in August, the app was also removed from the Apple App Store amid record label complaints. Unlike services like Rdio, MOG, Spotify and Rhapsody, music is added to the service by its users, which means that copyright violations are much more likely.

We can’t help but think, at this juncture, of Google’s own proposed music service, which has been all over the web lately. This service would act as a locker for users’ music, allowing them to listen to jams across devices, among other functions.

Seeing how Google has allegedly yet to get all the licenses it needs from the music labels, it doesn’t seem that far-fetched that the company would pull an app that raises the labels’ ire at this point in time.

Image courtesy of Flickr, thecrazyfilmgirl

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Fans of Brooklyn’s TV on the Radio have been waiting for the band’s next disc since 2008, when its last album, Dear Science, dropped. Now Rhapsody subscribers can check out Nine Types of Light before its April 12 release.

Rhapsody isn’t the only outlet to feature the album early — The Guardian is streaming it today, too — but the portability that Rhapsody offers is certainly enticing.

The music subscription service is also offering a ton of editorial content, including videos, the band’s responses to subscriber questions, and other interviews and tidbits.

More and more, bands are releasing music via alternative distribution channels, such as Rhapsody, which has also premiered music from artists like Jack Johnson, The Black Eyed Peas and Zac Brown. Other services, like Spotify (which premiered R.E.M.’s last album, for one), have had similar initiatives, and Facebook has afforded fans early looks at music from the likes of J-Lo and Lil Wayne.

Rhapsody users: Let us know what you think of TV on the Radio‘s efforts in the comments. In the meantime, here’s a single from the disc, courtesy of Soundcloud:

TV On The Radio – “Will Do” by Interscope Records

Image courtesy of Flickr, angela n.

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If you’re a developer interested in integrating music with a social bent into your web apps, start your engines: Super-social music subscription service Rdio is opening its Rdio.com API and affiliate program to developers.

Friday at SXSW, the service, which comes from the founders of Skype, announced that developers now will be able to tap into Rdio’s web API, which will let them bring music into their web apps. That means that they can now access all of Rdio’s 8 million songs, and monetize any apps using the API through Rdio‘s affiliate program, which will pay devs commission for directing new subscribers their way, and for song downloads.

“Developers who have been looking for a way to integrate music into their web applications now have a way to do it easily, legally and accessibly,” says Todd Berman, VP of engineering at Rdio. “We’re also excited that our subscribers and the public will now be able to access Rdio content all over the web.”

While it’s certainly interesting that devs will be able to access Rdio’s extensive catalog, what’s perhaps even more intriguing is that they will also be able to take advantage of the service’s social features: seeing what friends are listening to, following other music fans and making playlists and collections. These aspects are what make Rdio unique from other music subscription services, which by and large lack robust social features.

Rdio also says that it will release its playback API for iOS and Android soon — which means mobile developers will have access to Rdio’s music collection (but not its social features).

Perhaps the most intriguing use of the Rdio API we have seen has been the MusicMapper app, which was created for the 2011 Grammy Awards. This app lets users tag certain locations with relevant music, via Rdio.

We’re interested to see what kinds of APIs and products come to light as more and more subscription services open up their APIs. At CES, MOG announced The MOG Fusion Program, which helps consumer electronics and auto manufacturers integrate MOG’s APIs (including catalog search, playlisting, favoriting, etc.) into their products.

Image courtesy of Flickr, craigCloutier

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If you’re a developer interested in integrating music with a social bent into your web apps, start your engines: Super-social music subscription service Rdio is opening its Rdio.com API and affiliate program to developers.

Friday at SXSW, the service, which comes from the founders of Skype, announced that developers now will be able to tap into Rdio’s web API, which will let them bring music into their web apps. That means that they can now access all of Rdio’s 8 million songs, and monetize any apps using the API through Rdio‘s affiliate program, which will pay devs commission for directing new subscribers their way, and for song downloads.

“Developers who have been looking for a way to integrate music into their web applications now have a way to do it easily, legally and accessibly,” says Todd Berman, VP of engineering at Rdio. “We’re also excited that our subscribers and the public will now be able to access Rdio content all over the web.”

While it’s certainly interesting that devs will be able to access Rdio’s extensive catalog, what’s perhaps even more intriguing is that they will also be able to take advantage of the service’s social features: seeing what friends are listening to, following other music fans and making playlists and collections. These aspects are what make Rdio unique from other music subscription services, which by and large lack robust social features.

Rdio also says that it will release its playback API for iOS and Android soon — which means mobile developers will have access to Rdio’s music collection (but not its social features).

Perhaps the most intriguing use of the Rdio API we have seen has been the MusicMapper app, which was created for the 2011 Grammy Awards. This app lets users tag certain locations with relevant music, via Rdio.

We’re interested to see what kinds of APIs and products come to light as more and more subscription services open up their APIs. At CES, MOG announced The MOG Fusion Program, which helps consumer electronics and auto manufacturers integrate MOG’s APIs (including catalog search, playlisting, favoriting, etc.) into their products.

Image courtesy of Flickr, craigCloutier

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Europe-based music subscription service Spotify has reached a milestone today, announcing that it now has 1 million paying subscribers — a base it has accrued since launching almost two years ago.

The news was announced today on the Spotify blog.

The “paying” is the key here — as Spotify has 10 million subscribers across the U.K., Finland, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Spain (that means that about 9 million use the free service).

The Swedish music-streaming service provides users with unlimited streaming of songs (on-demand) from major and indie labels, with more than 10 million tracks available. It has two kinds of subscriptions: free with ads, or paid sans ads.

For comparison’s sake, Rhapsody — the veritable grandfather of the music subscription sphere — has 750,000 subscribers. Many other services such as MOG and Rdio decline to release details about their user bases.

This news comes at a time of possible change for the much buzzed-about service. For a while now, users in the U.S. have been waiting for the service to breach their borders, an event that could soon be on the horizon. There have been numerous reports of late that Spotify is close to or has already closed deals with major U.S. labels, and then there’s the rumored (and supposedly sizable) funding round.

We wonder what effect this news will have, if any, on a possible U.S. expansion as well as the service’s profitability — the service apparently lost $26.7 million in 2009.

Photo courtesy of Flickr, Andreas Blixt

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Starting Tuesday, music lovers can sign up for 60 days of free access to music subscription service Rhapsody, thanks to a promotion with MTV.

Usually, trial periods for music subscription services are about seven to 14 days, so this is a pretty big offering — one which will also include tie-ins with MTV Networks programming. Think playlists from Jersey Shore, etc. The service will also be cropping up in the mobile realm, such as in the Tosh.0 app.

This move seems like an attempt on Rhapsody‘s part to draw new users into the fold. The company reports that it has more than 750,000 subscribers, 100,000 of which it says signed up after Rhapsody spun off from RealNetworks and Viacom in April (and, also, cut its price from $15 per month to $10). At that time, according to Business Insider, MTV (whose parent company is Viacom) committed $33 million in free advertising for Rhapsody as part of the service’s move into independence.

Rhapsody was also recently integrated into MTV’s new Music Meter tool.

Since other music subscription services don’t generally release their subscriber numbers — with the exception of Spotify, which reports 10 million subscribers (though it isn’t known if they all pay or use the app) — it’s hard to say how Rhapsody stacks up against its competitors when it comes to user base.

Still, most digital music services have yet to become profitable — both Spotify and Last.fm lost money in 2009 — so we can see why Rhapsody would be making a special effort to bait users with a free trial that will hopefully lead to more paid subscribers. (This is especially in light of comments Rhapsody President Jon Irwin made with regard to the controversial Apple App Store tariff.)

Also, with Spotify rumored to hit the U.S. soon, it seems wise for Rhapsody to up its visibility.

Will you take advantage of the free trial?

Image Courtesy of Flickr, Robert Agthe

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Starting Tuesday, music lovers can sign up for 60 days of free access to music subscription service Rhapsody, thanks to a promotion with MTV.

Usually, trial periods for music subscription services are about seven to 14 days, so this is a pretty big offering — one which will also include tie-ins with MTV Networks programming. Think playlists from Jersey Shore, etc. The service will also be cropping up in the mobile realm, such as in the Tosh.0 app.

This move seems like an attempt on Rhapsody‘s part to draw new users into the fold. The company reports that it has more than 750,000 subscribers, 100,000 of which it says signed up after Rhapsody spun off from RealNetworks and Viacom in April (and, also, cut its price from $15 per month to $10). At that time, according to Business Insider, MTV (whose parent company is Viacom) committed $33 million in free advertising for Rhapsody as part of the service’s move into independence.

Rhapsody was also recently integrated into MTV’s new Music Meter tool.

Since other music subscription services don’t generally release their subscriber numbers — with the exception of Spotify, which reports 10 million subscribers (though it isn’t known if they all pay or use the app) — it’s hard to say how Rhapsody stacks up against its competitors when it comes to user base.

Still, most digital music services have yet to become profitable — both Spotify and Last.fm lost money in 2009 — so we can see why Rhapsody would be making a special effort to bait users with a free trial that will hopefully lead to more paid subscribers. (This is especially in light of comments Rhapsody President Jon Irwin made with regard to the controversial Apple App Store tariff.)

Also, with Spotify rumored to hit the U.S. soon, it seems wise for Rhapsody to up its visibility.

Will you take advantage of the free trial?

Image Courtesy of Flickr, Robert Agthe

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Want to make your music-listening experience more social, without paying a cent? Well, then, Soundtrckr is right up your proverbial alley.

Soundtrckr, which launched a few months ago and had its official send-off recently, is a service for the desktop, iPhone [iTunes link], iPod touch, Windows Phone 7, Google Chrome and Nokia that marries music discovery with social and geolocation.

Once installing the free app on one’s phone, a user has access to 10 million songs from indie and major labels (that’s comparable with MOG’s offering), as well as the ability to interact with friends.

Music subscription service Rdio‘s major selling point has been its social aspect, allowing users to follow friends and their listening habits. Soundtrckr kicks that feature up a notch — allowing you to chat with friends in-app, share music on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, as well as check out stations created by folks in your vicinity.

Still, unlike Rdio, one is not privy to on-demand listening nor offline caching, which makes the service closer to Pandora or the current iteration of Slacker Radio (although Slacker does have offline listening) when it comes to music itself.

According to founder and CEO Daniele Calabrese, the service will soon be available in eight languages, as well as on Android, BlackBerry PlayBook and the HP TouchPad.

The iPhone app is a little on the crashy side (although the desktop version is super slick), but it’s still a pretty fun way to discover/listen to music. Check out the gallery below for a closer look at the user interface — which is rather clean and simple to navigate.

Radio Station

Home Screen

What People Are Listening to Nearby

Chat With Christina Warren

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The Spotify rumor mill is turning once more, this time with the news that Spotify has finalized a U.S. distribution deal with EMI.

According to All Things Digital‘s sources, the currently in-flux record label is now on board with Spotify, a popular music subscription service not yet available stateside. Although Spotify has declined to confirm as much, Sony also recently joined the party (a fact we have gleaned via sources close to the matter). That means Spotify needs one more label to get access to American consumers.

We have reached out to Spotify and EMI for comment.

Now that Spotify has two labels on board (and Warner at least thinking about the matter, if comments made during a recent earnings call by CEO Edgar Bronfman are any indication), we could finally see the subscription service in the U.S. soon.

We’ll keep you updated when we know more about the matter.

Photo courtesy of Flickr, Andreas Blixt

More About: EMI, music subscription, spotify

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This free Android control software for Sonos wireless multi-room music systems includes unique features that aren’t available on the iPhone version.

If you’re not familiar with Sonos S5 wireless speakers, you can place them in any room in your house, or pair two of them together. They use Wi-Fi to tap into your network and find all of your digital music for instant playback, and can also play almost any Internet music service.

You can control Sonos wireless speakers ($400 apiece) from a Mac or PC, but it’s a lot easier to use an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Android phone to do the controlling. The iPhone/Touch and iPad apps for Sonos has been available for months, but until this Android app is released next month, the only choices for Android have been third-party apps that in my opinion are sluggish and don’t work as well as the Sonos control app I’ve been using on iPhone.

I’m hoping the Android version will match the quality of the iOS versions. Sonos reps told me today the Android version will be better, able to do some things the iOS version can’t. For instance, the physical volume controls on Android phones will be capable of raising and lowering the volume of the Sonos speakers, which must be done using the touchscreen on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

Another unique feature of this Android version is speech recognition, where in addition to typing the name of the song, you can speak the name of the tune you’re looking for. Sonos and said this works when the music is playing loudly, which I’d like to verify with my own testing. This could be a significant convenience over the iPhone version, which can be cumbersome if you want to find a single track in a large collection.

Mashable‘s Brenna Ehrlich used Sonos’s multi-room system, controlled with iOS devices, recently in a demo of music subscription service Rdio. You can view some of the Android app screenshots and products stills in the gallery below.

Sonos Android: Now Playing Screen

Now Playing Screen

Sources Screen

Control Speakers in Different Zones

Sonos S5 Wireless Speaker

More About: Android apps, sonos, Sonos S5, Wireless speakers

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Joining the likes of MOG, Slacker Radio and Pandora, music subscription service Thumbplay will soon be adding a “radio” functionality to its new web and smartphone apps.

Later this month, new versions of Thumbplay’s apps will hit the market — this time featuring the ability to create artist stations.

Thumbplay artist radio is much like MOG’s artist radio; one can use a slider to determine the desired music mix: from songs totally by that band, to a more eclectic medley. One can also save music, rewind it, repeat songs and delete songs from the station without limitations.

In addition, this new iteration does not require one to download the app (before, users were required to download a desktop app — this version is web-based), and it will boast social sharing features as well. (Thumbplay added deep Twitter integration to its desktop app a while back.)

The most attractive aspect of the app, however, is how easy it is to navigate. In many ways, it mimics services like iTunes, neatly laying out one’s music by artist and drilling down to album, song, etc. It’s much more intuitive than MOG in many ways (even MOG’s Chrome app).

More and more, music subscription apps are adding features that put them in direct competition, providing consumers with even more choices when it comes to what service to sign up for.

Thumbplay’s app is still in private beta, but you can sign up for early access here.

What feature is most important to you when choosing a music service? On-demand streaming? Offline caching? Social sharing? Radio? Let us know.

Photo courtesy of Flickr, João Pedro, uai!

More About: mobile apps, music, thumbplay, web apps

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Music subscription service Rdio recently took its 8 million song library beyond the desktop and mobile sphere with an integration with Sonos’s wireless multi-room music system.

We first heard about this partnership at this year’s CES, and now Rdio is live on the music system.

The Sonos S5 system — which we introduced you to back in June — works as a speaker for all music in the cloud. It can play music from your iTunes, as well as services like Pandora, Rhapsody, Napster, SIRIUS, Last.fm and a ton of radio stations and podcasts. One can use a smartphone or iPad to control the whole shebang — for around $400 per room.

Now, Rdio, a super social music subscription service that lets you follow friends and listen to music on demand, is part of the Sonos stable (at least for users in the U.S. and Canada). Rdio on Sonos costs $9.99 per month.

We got the chance to play around with a Sonos music system and its newly minted Rdio integration. Check out the video above for a sneak peek!

More About: gadgets, rdio, sonos, tech

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Rdio, a uniquely social music subscription service, reportedly just garnered financial support from Mangrove Capital Partners.

According to Paid Content, the news first surfaced via a tweet from Mangrove partner Mark Tluszcz to MC Hammer (awesome), reading: “@MCHammer check out the company I just financed….www.rdio.com. Hope to see you at our Jamboree this year in Florence.”

Paid Content confirmed the news with Mangrove, but there’s no word yet as to how much money Rdio received, or how it will use the cash. We’ve reached out to Rdio for comment.

Rdio — which launched this past summer — is a super social music subscription service that lets you follow friends and listen to their musical collections, as well as listen to music on-demand.

Lately, the service — which is currently only available in the U.S. and Canada — has been on the up-and-up, partnering with Merlin, a licensing agency for indie acts — a move that helped make its library much more diverse. Rdio was also integrated into the MusicMapper, a mobile app launched as part of the Grammy Awards’ Music Is Life Is Music campaign.

Wireless music system Sonos also recently introduced Rdio into its musical offerings, marking Rdio’s first foray into consumer electronics (before it was only available on the desktop and on mobile devices).

More and more, music subscription services are gaining popularity — what with MOG’s Fusion Program facilitating its integration into electronics and cars, and rising anticipation over Spotify launching in the U.S. This recent funding news just further indicates that the music subscription space is one to watch.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, shulz

More About: rdio

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‘Tis the season… that the holiday music playing in stores and supermarkets ad nauseum since October has just about driven us insane.

Well, dear readers, it’s time to regain a little holiday cheer with this list of five music-themed contests to snap you out of your holi-daze.

We’ve assembled a truly nondenominational list below — i.e. there’s something in there for both musicians and music fans.

Let us know if you score any prizes, and please do link us to any holiday jams of your own making — if we hear “The 12 Days of Christmas” one more time, we’re going to lose it.

1. Fans: Score Free Jams

First stop, our favorite music subscription service roundup — next stop, your desktop and mobile device. Super social music streaming app Rdio is giving away one free account every day until December 25. All you have to do to get in the game is “Like” the app on Facebook and click over to the “Sweepstakes” tab to enter your info.

Not only is this a great way for the service to garner new fans, it’s also a pretty easy way to score an entire year’s worth of free music, which should come in handy when you’re stuck between a flock of screaming children and cackling teens on a bus back to your parent’s place. Ohhh, the holidays…

2. Enter a Battle of the Bands

Here’s an idea: Instead of ruthlessly fighting with your siblings for your parent’s love and approval this holiday season, why not enter a battle of the bands? (Let’s face it: if you’re in a band in the first place, you’re probably not going to win that war. Why, oh, why didn’t you go to law school like your father suggested?)

Shure, maker of high-quality audio gear, recently kicked off its SM58® Give It Voice Tour, which aims to get undiscovered musicians the fawning attention they so desire. You have until December 10 to register for the competition, but we’re shure (hehe) you have some songs kicking around the old Bandcamp account, which, incidentally, you will need in order to enter the contest.

Fans will cast votes for their chosen tunes, which will determine who will make it to the semi-finals, and, ultimately, win the Shure SM58® Vocal Microphone at the RedGorilla Music Fest in Austin, Texas. You’ll also nab $10,000 worth of Shure gear if you win, which will come in handy come gift-giving time, seeing as how you spent that last paycheck on a pack of new strings and some ramen.

3. Remix It Up

What’s your least favorite holiday jam? Mine is “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.” Music collaboration platform Indaba recently launched a holiday remix contest, in which it challenged musicians to spin classic holiday songs into brand new jams.

The contest resulted in two EPs, one of which features modern remixes and one which includes electronic re-imaginings. The winners share in the sales and publishing of the songs they submit.

You can check out all the winners on Indaba’s site or purchase the albums on iTunes.

Even though it’s too late to fulfill my dream of turning “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” into a Go-Go-inspired dance hit, Indaba still has a ton of contests that you can enter this holiday season, including a call to remix John Legend and The Roots’ “Shine.” So get thee to your bedroom, er, studio, and start mixing. It’s too cold to go outside, anyway.

4. Become a V.I.P. With Diddy

New Year’s Eve is always a huge disappointment, mostly because folks always feel so pressured to have fun. This year, why not kick up that pressure a notch by entering Vevo’s recently announced sweepstakes, for which a night with Diddy is the prize. Yup. All you have to do is fill out a form before December 13 for a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas and an invite to Diddy’s album release/New Year’s Eve Party.

Hey, it beats falling asleep on the couch at 11 p.m., clutching a half-empty bottle of champagne and a noisemaker.

5. Share a Memory, Score a Trip to the Grammys

Remember when you were 13 years old and your sister gave you Blonde on Blonde on vinyl, effectively sparking your adoration for Bob Dylan? Encouraged by the gusty attitude he adopted when he went electric — much to the chagrin of his fans — you defied all suburban cultural norms to become the first female quarterback on your high school’s football team to also dance the lead in the school’s production of Swan Lake?

No? Well, it would be cool if you did, because that would make an awesome story for the National Association of Recording Merchandisers’ (NARM) Give The Gift Of Music contest.

Give The Gift Of Music is a website launched on November 1, 2010, by NARM and the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) as a place for music lovers to find gift-giving ideas, create music wish lists and listen to artists talking about their favorite musical gifts.

In order to win one of the many prizes — the most enticing being a trip for two to the Grammy Awards — all you have to do is post a favorite memory involving a time you received music as a gift to the site’s “Share Your Memories” page before December 17.

We all know my favorite musical-gifting memory (if only it were the one above). What’s yours? Let us know in the comments!

More Social Music Resources from Mashable:

– How To Make Your Music Video Go Viral: 10 Tips From Cee-Lo, OK Go & More
– 4 Ways Bands Can Cash in Online Without a Label
– Top 10 Twitter Tips for Bands, By Bands
– 5 Great Ways to Find Music That Suits Your Mood
– 5 Free Ways to Identify that Song Stuck in Your Head

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, LuckyBusiness

More About: Christmas, Contests, diddy, grammys, Holidays, Indaba, music, NARM, rdio, shure, social media, vevo

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Major Labels Fall Under Apple’s Spell Again:

Music subscriptions are not new. Rhapsody, Napster and others have been offering them for years with only moderate success. But an iTune’s music subscription service appears to sound new and sexy to the struggling labels.

So when Apple also recently told label heads that they were having serious doubts about whether Spotify could ever deliver serious revenue; the profits Apple was really worried about were their own. According to CNet, Apple reminded the labels that it’s hard to to sell something that someone else – like ad supported Spotify – is giving away. An industry insider told CNet’s Greg Sandoval that it’s “only logical that if Spotify were allowed to launch a free-music service here, at a time when Nielsen recently reported that the growth of digital sales has flattened out, it could eat into the businesses of proven revenue-producers like Apple and Amazon.”

There are at least two major problems with Apple’s hypothesis that the labels are choosing to ignore. While single tracks sales are flat, Nielson and many others project continued album download growth. As for Spotify hurting music sales – the old “why pay for the cow when you can get the milk for free?” argument – most surveys show that Spotify increases download sales while also fighting piracy.

Apple has always been a very aggressive competitor and with Google, Spotify and others preparing to chip away at it’s supremacy in the music space, Jobs & Co. appears anxious to crush or at least stall any competition that in can.

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]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/tutorial/apple-in-serious-talks-to-stream-music/feed/ 0 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/rdio-subscription-service-now-open-for-business/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/rdio-subscription-service-now-open-for-business/#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:23:57 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/rdio-subscription-service-now-open-for-business/ Rdio is a desktop and mobile music subscription service that competes with the likes of Rhapsody and Napster. It is now available across the U.S. and Canada.

Originally posted at MP3 Insider

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]]> http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/rdio-subscription-service-now-open-for-business/feed/ 5 http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/mog-launches-all-you-can-eat-music-service-free-invites/ http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/mog-launches-all-you-can-eat-music-service-free-invites/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:50:21 +0000 Facebook-Web-Design http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/facebook-web-design/web-resources/mog-launches-all-you-can-eat-music-service-free-invites/

We wrote last week about the impending launch of the MOG music subscription service, and now that day is here. To recap, MOG will be taking on Napster and Rhapsody in the all-you-can-eat, on-demand listening experience for $5 per month.

With an extensive library of millions of tracks backed by all four of the giant major label consortiums and an innovative music management interface (see the embedded video below for a demo), it seems like MOG is stepping up to the plate with a compelling offering in the music subscription space.

MOG will be offering the first 100 Mashable readers to follow the instructions below a free month’s worth of service. Find out how to get yours after the break.

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How To Get a Free Month of MOG Service

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1. Follow the @mogdotcom account on Twitter.

2. Use the retweet button at the upper left of this post to RT it on Twitter.

3. If you are one of the first 100 retweeters, MOG will send you a Direct Message on Twitter with an invite for your one month of free subscription service.

If your trigger finger is slightly too slow to net you a slot in the first 100, you can still head over to MOG and check out a one hour free trial of the service (no payment information required up front). You can also feel free to keep following @mogdotcom on Twitter for other upcoming contests and giveaways, including lifetime memberships and other prizes.

Were you one of the lucky 100? If you’ve had a chance to check out MOG, be sure to let us know your impressions in the comments.

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MOG Overview Video

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Reviews: Mashable, Twitter

Tags: MOG, music, playlists, startups, subscription

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